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Editorial
Casting and Forming of Advanced Aluminum Alloys
Hélder Puga
CMEMS-UMinho, Center for Microelectromechanical Systems, Mechanical Department, University of Minho,
4710-057 Braga, Portugal; puga@dem.uminho.pt; Tel.: +351-252-510-220
Received: 6 April 2020; Accepted: 8 April 2020; Published: 9 April 2020
2. Contributions
Conventional aluminum alloys have reached their limits concerning their mechanical properties.
Thus, finding effective and reliable solutions to develop new alloys as well as new technologies for
its processing remains a demanding challenge. In this Special Issue of Metals, ten articles have been
published, covering a wide scope of recent progress and developments regarding some aspects of
aluminum alloys, including their processing, microstructure and mechanical properties, corrosion and
surface quality. These aspects can be combined into two main groups (1) casting and (2) forming an
aluminum alloy.
the level of porosity in the microstructure after solidification. Controlling the microstructure of
aluminum alloys is of primary importance to achieve high mechanical performance, requiring suitable
degassing, modification, and refinement techniques. Conventional casting is a well-established process
for the manufacture of a wide variety of aluminum components. Nevertheless, achievable casting
performance is limited due to defects that emerge during melt processing and solidification. In recent
years, an effort has been made to develop new and reliable techniques to control the microstructure of
several engineering alloys, with a particular emphasis on Al-based alloys, to overcome the problems
associated with traditional melt techniques.
The effect of traveling magnetic fields (TMFs) on the grain and micro-pore formation in an Al-Cu
alloy was studied by Xu et al. [1]. In this study, it was reported that the forced convection induced by
TMF break the dendrites, refine the grain size, and promote liquid feeding, leading to a decrease in the
volume fraction of the porosity and improved mechanical property. The microstructural evaluation
and corrosion resistance of a semisolid Cast A356 alloy were studied by Gebril et al. [2]. For that,
a combination of as-cast and semisolid casting using a cooling slope processed by equal channel angular
pressing (ECAP) was used. Eskin and Wang [3], Kudryashova et al. [4] and Puga et al. [5] applied the
ultrasonic vibration to study the effect of ultrasonic melt treatment in the solidified microstructure of
aluminum alloys. The role of the roll-separating force in the high-speed twin-roll casting of aluminum
alloys was examined by Kim et al. [6]. For that, a traditional twin-roll casting (TRC) process was
designed to combine metal casting and hot rolling into a single operation.
References
1. Xu, Y.; Wei, L.; Han, B.; Guo, E.; Wang, M.; Su, Y. Effect of a Traveling Magnetic Field on Micropore Formation
in Al-Cu Alloys. Metals 2018, 8, 448. [CrossRef]
2. Gebril, A.M.; Omar, Z.M.; Mohamed, F.I.; Othman, K.N. Microstructural Evaluation and Corrosion Resistance
of Semisolid Cast A356 Alloy Processed by Equal Channel Angular Pressing. Metals 2019, 9, 303. [CrossRef]
Metals 2020, 10, 494 3 of 3
3. Eskin, D.; Wang, F. Joint Effect of Ultrasonic Vibrations and Solid Metal Addition on the Grain Refinement of
an Aluminium Alloy. Metals 2019, 9, 161. [CrossRef]
4. Kudryashova, O.; Khmeleva, M.; Danilov, P.; Dammer, V.; Vorozhtsov, A.; Eskin, D. Optimizing the Conditions
of Metal Solidification with Vibration. Metals 2019, 9, 366. [CrossRef]
5. Puga, H.; Barbosa, J.; Carneiro, H.V. The Role of Acoustic Pressure during Solidification of AlSi7Mg Alloy in
Sand Mold Casting. Metals 2019, 9, 490. [CrossRef]
6. Kim, M.; Kim, H.; Kim, S.; Kumai, S. Role of Roll Separating Force in High-Speed Twin-Roll Casting of
Aluminum Alloys. Metals 2019, 9, 645. [CrossRef]
7. Ciuffini, F.A.; Barella, S.; Cecca, D.C.; Gruttadauria, A.; Mapelli, C.; Merello, L.; Mainetti, G.; Bertoletti, M.
Surface Quality Improvement of AA6060 Aluminum Extruded Components through Liquid Nitrogen Mold
Cooling. Metals 2018, 8, 409. [CrossRef]
8. Li, S.; Jin, S.; Huang, X. Cavity Behavior of Fine-Grained 5A70 Aluminum Alloy during Superplastic
Formation. Metals 2018, 8, 1065. [CrossRef]
9. Li, S.; Huang, X.; Jin, S. Superplastic Behavioral Characteristics of Fine-Grained 5A70 Aluminum Alloy.
Metals 2019, 9, 62. [CrossRef]
10. Yang, D.; Miao, J.; Zhang, F.; Fu, Z.; Liu, Y. Effects of Prebending Radii on Microstructure and Fatigue
Performance of Al-Zn-Mg-Cu Aluminum Alloy after Creep Age Forming. Metals 2019, 9, 630. [CrossRef]
© 2020 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access
article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution
(CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).